quirk
Americannoun
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quirks
plural
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a peculiarity of action, behavior, or personality; mannerism.
He is full of strange quirks.
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a shift, subterfuge, or evasion; quibble.
-
a sudden twist or turn.
He lost his money by a quirk of fate.
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a flourish or showy stroke, as in writing.
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Architecture.
-
an acute angle or channel, as one dividing two parts of a molding or one dividing a flush bead from the adjoining surfaces.
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an area taken from a larger area, as a room or a plot of ground.
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an enclosure for this area.
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Obsolete. a clever or witty remark; quip.
adjective
noun
-
an individual peculiarity of character; mannerism or foible
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an unexpected twist or turn
a quirk of fate
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a continuous groove in an architectural moulding
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a flourish, as in handwriting
Synonym Usage
See eccentricity.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of quirk
First recorded in 1540–50; origin uncertain
Explanation
A quirk is a unique, odd, and sometimes charming trait that makes a person stand out from the crowd. Country comedian Minnie Pearl was known for her quirk of wearing a $1.98 price tag dangling from her hat. A quirk can be an adorable little habit, like wearing flowery dresses and big sun bonnets or bow ties every day. Someone who has one or many quirks is said to be quirky — a little odd, but usually in a fun way. When it's not being used to describe people's unusual traits, quirk can mean a quick curve, or a groove, that runs along or separates the molding in a building.
Vocabulary lists containing quirk
40 SAT words Beginning with "Q"
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The Witch of Blackbird Pond
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The Poet X
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Just three players this century have had a season with at least 550 at-bats and zero homers, a bizarre statistical quirk that hasn’t happened since Elvis Andrus of the Texas Rangers in 2010.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
There have always been overeager people who, through either extreme wishful thinking or some quirk of brain chemistry, have come to believe that science fiction hides secret messages or covers up for real events.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
It’s a cruel quirk of fate, or maybe just a tragic irony, that we are celebrating America’s semiquincentennial during one of the most surreal periods in American history.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
But Folarin Balogun only represents the USA because of a quirk of his birth.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
By a strange quirk of fate, this ambitious choral composer found himself working in the one building in the world which, by dint of its architecture, was responsible for a new style of choral music.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
On the other hand, July registered a large drop in state and local education employment that might have been due more to calendar quirks than anything else, and so could be unwound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Through quirks of form and function, all other radio-ready music is incredibly focused on its immediate surroundings.
From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026
One of the quirks of being a leader in the Belgium dressing room is language diversity.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
That has more to do with a complicated web of seasonal gas-market quirks, refining margins and exports, and unabated demand.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
He had wondered, at times, if he was imagining Captain’s quirks.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
